Most Improved Pub of 2011
Wishing to end the year on a positive note, I thought I should nominate an entry for the 'Most Improved Pub of 2011'.
So, whilst remaining a Greene King pub, The Bedford in Tunbridge Wells has progressed from something as dull an excuse for a bar that Select Service Partner would put on a railway station to a destination beer house with an excellent range of local ales.
I don't know who's idea it was, but well done!
I'll nominate The Fat Badger in Harrogate. It's gone from being a dreary hotel bar with nowt but two keg taps and suitable only for the corporate undead to a lively venue with six well kept beers from near and far, a beer club, ladies nights and quizes.
The beer range contains nothing to scare the horses but they're always on good form and the place has got better since it opened.
On my travels around the country this year,I would nominate The Glebe which is walkable from Stoke on Trent station,over the canal.It was closed for many years and was gently rotting ,so the restoration by Joules Brewery is a most welcome improvement.If you are down that way ,don't forget to also pop into The White Star for your Titanic fix and be certain to miss your train.
The moorings there are among the most unsalubrious anywhere ,right next to the A500 but for some reason I never have any trouble getting to sleep there
For me the Three Daws in Gravesend. A wonderful historic riverside pub that for more years than I care to remember served up some of the foulest and most undrinkable beers imaginable. I gave it a wide berth for a few years but returned early this year on the offchance that they had got their act together and both the quality and choice were far superior than ever before. To ensure it wasn't a fluke I was there again a couple of weeks ago and their Batemans Victory Beer ended up as my BotW. Just hope it lasts.
I'm going for the Spotted Dog in Brighton.
http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/10576/
WE ARE THE BREADMEN - UP THE BEES 
I am going for a local pub the Pavilion in Stapleford.
After several years as a keg house Mansfield / Marstons sold it off and there are now four pumps on the bar and three of these have beers from smaller local breweries.
Dog & Gun
My nomination - the Dog and Gun, Netheravon. It has gone from a run-down road-side pub with management problems to a well-run establishment with decent ales, reliabel food and a very welcoming atmosphere.
I'll nominate the The Rose and Crown in my home village of Lytchett Matravers, Dorset. For so long a victim of Hall and Woodhouse's ever changing agenda, this place has finally been bought from the brewery by an enterprising couple whose previous pub was taken over by Wetherspoons.
The pub has always had a bit of a bad reputation and was traditionally the last refuge for those banned from the other village pub or the British Legion. Now it has been smartened up and offers 3 ales (Doom Bar plus two rotating local beers) and good quality food. They put on the village's first ever beer festival in September, which was excellent and exactly the sort of community based event the village needs.
By my reckoning, this was the first pub I ever set foot in, so I'm delighted to see it doing so well after years of fearing that the next time I went past it would have been converted into a block of flats.
20+ years ago this pub The White Hart (JD Wetherspoon) was a traditional local with a proper tap room and lounge.
A number of refurbishments opened it out but it still had that locals feel including several football & darts teams.
In the last 3 or 4 years a couple of less than sympathetic refurbishments and less than competant landlords meant that it slowly drifted downwards and eventually closed.
Bought by JDW and refurbished to a high standard they also opened a first floor area with a bar and several distinct seating areas.
This is the kind of thing that JDW do well and they've done an excellent job on this pub.
By far the most improved pub around my area.
A pub is for life not just for Christmas
In the North Wales area, apart from the excellent revived Bridge End at Ruabon (which has enough publicity as pub of the year finalist) my vote goes to The Morning Star at Ruthin which has gone from a closed run down pub to a very cosy and friendly pub with several Real Ales (from small local breweries) served direct from the casks behind the bar. Excellent food is served, either in the bar area by the open log burning fire or in the larger lounge area.
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